
Israel

Note: This profile only covers Israel’s sovereign territory and does not reflect Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel performs in the high range in the Representation and Participation categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, and mid- range in Rights and the Rule of Law. Over the past five years, it has seen significant declines in Access to Justice. Despite an advanced, export-oriented economy including high-technology goods, Israel has one of the highest inequality levels among advanced economies.
The state of Israel was established in 1948 following a UN resolution to partition Palestine. Its roots are in the nineteenth-century Zionist movement, which encouraged Jewish migration to Ottoman and later British Palestine as a refuge from violent antisemitism in Europe, a point that took on additional urgency after the Holocaust. Its creation between 1947 and 1949 involved the forced expulsion and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Today, Israel maintains a separated regime of governance between its internationally recognized territory, the annexed Golan Heights, and its military occupation of parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Israel controls the latter through physical military presence, and in the West Bank, through the application of a twofold legal system of military law for Palestinians and civil law for Israelis.
Israel’s dual commitment to being a democratic and Jewish state has proven difficult to balance. This issue was exacerbated by the controversial Nation State Law of 2018, which defines Israel as ‘the nation state of the Jewish People’. This has also given rise to inequitable rules, laws, and practices that discriminate against non-Jewish citizens, which include Christian, Muslim and Druze minorities. Non-Jews are, for example, discriminated against in terms of family reunification, land ownership, and access to education. In recent years, the divide between religious and secular Jews has also grown. Further, there are divisions along ethnic and socioeconomic background, as well as views on the country’s compulsory military service and the illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.
Israel’s political landscape is highly polarized, manifested in the efforts of Israel’s ascendent far right parties to reduce the powers of the country’s Supreme Court, which they perceive as obstructing their policy agenda. Intensified efforts to reform the judiciary, including legislation that grants the government greater control over judicial appointments, have deepened public mistrust and reignited protests. The corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has further exacerbated tensions between the executive and judiciary.
Israel’s war in Gaza has also intensified restrictions on civic space, with dissent from opposition politicians, journalists, academics and conscientious objectors (including reservists) increasingly suppressed. The conditions of migrant workers have deteriorated, and there have been growing allegations of torture and mistreatment against Palestinians detained in Israel’s prison system.
While Israel is among the world’s top 25 per cent with regard to performance on Gender Equality, women still face gaps in political representation, pay, and access to leadership roles. Although LGBTQ+ protections exist—allowing same-sex couples to adopt and serve openly in the military—same-sex marriages are not performed. Additionally, the country’s progressive LGBTQ+ image has been criticized as "pink-washing," used to distract from broader human rights issues.
Looking ahead, Rule of Law and Rights will be an area to watch, particularly with respect to developments in the judiciary and the evolution of Access to Justice. This will be especially relevant given the rights violations within the prison system as well as in relation to International Court of Justice (ICJ) case and International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings against Israel and its leaders. The political climate, shaped by the government’s responses to the ongoing war in Gaza, also warrants close attention, as it may impact performance across all Global State of Democracy Indices indicators moving forward.
Last updated: May 2025
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
March 2025
New law expands elected officials’ control over judicial appointments
On 27 March, the Knesset passed a law reforming the Judicial Selection Committee (JSC), the body responsible for appointing judges, in a way that increases political influence over the judicial appointments process and is likely to undermine judicial independence. The reforms increase the number of political appointees on the JSC from four to six, by replacing two representatives of the Bar Association members with a representative appointed by the government and another by the opposition. Additionally, the law lowers the majority required for Supreme Court nominations from 7-2 to 5-4. However, it requires at least one member from both the coalition and the opposition to agree on appointments, effectively granting each side veto power. The opposition, which boycotted the final vote, has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the law. Civil society groups protested outside the Knesset against the law, which is set to take effect in the next Knesset term, following general elections scheduled for late 2026.
Sources: Knesset, The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post (1), The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, International IDEA, The Jerusalem Post (2)
February 2025
First conviction for Sde Teiman prisoner abuse deemed insufficient
On 6 February, a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was convicted by a military court for abusing Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman facility between January and June 2024. The reservist admitted to repeatedly assaulting bound and blindfolded detainees under his custody, using his fists, a baton, and a rifle. He also forced the detainees to imitate animal sounds, recording these humiliations on his mobile phone. The court sentenced him to seven months in prison, with 80 days deducted for time already served in pre-trial detention. While this is the first conviction related to abuse allegations at the facility, rights groups have condemned the sentence as insufficient to deter similar incidents in the future. Investigations into other claims of torture and abuse at the facility are still ongoing. On 19 February, military prosecutors indicted five more IDF reservists accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee.
Sources: Israel Defense Forces (1), Israel Defense Forces (2), Reuters, The Jerusalem Post
January 2025
Minister of Justice refuses to acknowledge authority of new Supreme Court President
On 26 January, the Judicial Selection Committee appointed Isaac Amit as President of the Supreme Court, ending a 16-month vacancy. However, Justice Minister Yariv Levin refused to recognize the authority of the newly appointed President, exacerbating growing tensions between the courts and the executive. Levin, who opposes the seniority-based appointment process of the Judicial Selection Committee, called Amit’s nomination “illegitimate.” Levin also boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of Amit, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The executive’s refusal to acknowledge a Supreme Court President appointment is unprecedented and, observers argue that it compromises the cooperation necessary for the courts' effective functioning, especially given the President’s key role in overseeing judicial appointments, case assignments, disciplinary panels, and judge transfers or removals.
Sources: The Times of Israel (1), The Times of Israel (2), Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, Israel Democracy Institute (1), Israel Democracy Institute (2), Haaretz (2), The Times of Israel (3)
New judicial reform proposal presented by Justice and Foreign Ministers
On 9 January, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar introduced a new judicial reform bill aimed at restructuring the Judicial Selection Committee. This move follows earlier judicial reform proposals made in 2023, some of which were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2024 following widespread protests. The new proposed changes include replacing the two representatives of the Israel Bar Association with one lawyer appointed by the government coalition and one by the opposition, thereby increasing political representation on the committee. Additionally, the bill seeks to reduce the majority required for Supreme Court appointments from the current 7-2 to 5-4. A mechanism to prevent deadlocks in the event of persistent vacancies is also included. Observers warn that, despite being presented as a 'compromise solution,' the new bill could politicize judicial appointments and undermine the judiciary's independence if enacted.
Sources: The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, The Israel Democracy Institute
November 2024
Knesset passes legislation authorizing deportation of terrorists’ families and imprisonment of minors
On 7 November, the Knesset passed legislation authorizing the Interior Minister to deport the immediate family members of individuals convicted of terrorism offenses, including Israeli citizens. Relatives who knew of a plan to commit such an offence and failed to report it, or expressed support for the act, are liable to be deported to Gaza or elsewhere for seven to 20 years. Civil rights groups condemned the law as unconstitutional, arguing it undermines citizenship rights and constitutes collective punishment against Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of East Jerusalem. Also on 7 November, the Knesset approved a temporary five-year provision allowing children as young as 12 to be detained in closed facilities under terrorism laws if charged with murder or attempted murder. The provision permits transferring these minors to standard prisons once they turn 14. Both laws have faced significant criticism, and observers anticipate judicial challenges in the Supreme Court.
Sources: Knesset (1), Knesset (2), The Times of Israel, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Middle East Monitor
See all event reports for this country
Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023
Basic Information
Human Rights Treaties
Performance by category over the last 6 months
Blogs
Global State of Democracy Indices
Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years
Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time
Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time